The Girl Next Door
by n00btmntfan
Summary: April fears that her new neighbor might discover her secrets - such as her mutant father. Furthermore, she can't sort out her feelings about Donnie and Casey and finds herself wishing that this new neighbor could be her confidante. However, the strange woman has her own dark secrets to keep, and April begins to worry that she might be connected with the Foot Clan.
1. Chapter 1

She walked into the blank whitewashed apartment with a sigh. Here, she might find a fresh start. With her new job at the Software R & D at Advancements, Inc., Satou Atsuko was ready to forget everything that had ever happened to her in her past—everything that had ever happened to her prior to receiving her Green Card.

Forty years would be a lot to forget. But she had to in order to survive. Well, there was one thing she would never forget.

A voice behind her startled her. "Ms. Satou, where would you like the display cases installed?"

* * *

As April O'Neil walked down the staircase of her apartment, she jumped slightly at the sound of drills and movers. Big burly men were walking in and out of the apartment just below hers, and some kind of installation team was stirring up drywall dust. She coughed slightly as she tried to look without appearing _too_ curious.

She told herself that there was nothing unusual about new tenants moving into an apartment building, but she found that she had become overwhelmingly paranoid since her first encounter with the Kraang, and even more so now that the Foot had super-creepy-good robots in their employ.

Well, employ wasn't the right word, because they wouldn't be _paying_ the robots, but…

April turned back around to go down the stairs and smacked right into somebody. All of the books in her bag tumbled out and slid down the stairs in various states of disarray.

"Excuse me, I am so sorry!" exclaimed April's unfortunate victim.

"No," April groaned, as she scrambled to retrieve her books. "It's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Here, let me help you." The stranger started gathering stray books, pencils and papers from the staircase. "We don't want the movers stepping on these."

Upon recognizing a distinct Japanese accent, April looked up at the stranger for the first time. It was a woman—probably late thirties, early forties. Her shiny blue-black hair hung in a silky curtain all around her face. She couldn't have been any taller than April herself.

"Oh, are you the one that's moving in?" April asked, trying to sound casual. The idea of a Japanese person living next to her seemed frightfully suspicious—what if she was connected with the Foot? Was this woman related to Shredder somehow?

"I am," the woman replied with a warm smile. "And I am unfortunately already starting to be a nuisance to the neighbors. My name is Satou Atsuko—Atsuko Satou, rather. I am still unused to your backwards Western name system."

April laughed in spite of herself. "It's nice to meet you, Satou-san," she said. She hesitated briefly before saying her own name—but if this woman was in Shredder's ranks, she would already know it anyway. "I'm April."

"The pleasure is mine," Atsuko replied, with a customary bow. She then handed a book to April. "I see that you are learning trigonometry in school."

"Yeah. Actually, I'm tutoring this other guy so he doesn't flunk out."

"Sounds romantic," Atsuko said with a sparkle in her eye.

April rolled her eyes. "Please. It's for extra credit." However, she felt a slight twitch in her stomach at the thought of Casey's hockey-mangled grin and saucy attitude.

"Ah. Well, I won't delay you then. I'm sure we will see each other again."

"Yeah! Nice to meet you!"

* * *

"Wassup, Red? Not like you to be late!"

"I ran into my new neighbor—literally. I smashed into her on the staircase and spilled my books everywhere."

"Graceful," Casey said with smirk.

"Yeah, yeah," April replied, grinning widely.

"So when are you gonna tell me about those weird robo-dudes who were after you?"

"After I tell you about secants, cosecants, and cotangents."

"Wha…?" Furrowing his brow, Casey snatched the trigonometry book from April's hands and flipped to the table of contents. "C'mon, Red, that's not for like, five more chapters!"

"I know."

"Look, muchacha…"

"Since when do you call me 'muchacha?'"

"Since I learned it in Spanish today."

"Ah."

"But seriously—don't you think I could get an explanation?"

April sighed. "You know those friends I told you about? Well, they're enemies with those guys who attacked us. And so they sent those robots because of that."

"Is that why you're not talking to them anymore?"

"Well…I am talking to them again now. We made up."

Casey shook his head. "Red, your life sounds way too interesting."

"Tell me about it. Now let's review…what is a radian?"

"That's what you listen to music on, right?"

April groaned. "Seriously?" she said.

Casey laughed. "It's the same as a degree, only different, right?"

"Close enough, Jones. Close enough."

"So what's your new neighbor like?" Casey asked.

"Come on, Casey! Do you want to study or not?"

Casey chuckled. "You have to ask?"

April took a good, long look at Casey's face. Years of hockey playing had their toll. Four teeth missing, scars under his eyes—and yet he was kind of cute. He was so energetic and spaced out, but he had quite a violent side to him. It was like he was Michelangelo's and Raphael's deranged lovechild.

At that thought, April burst out laughing uncontrollably.

"What?" Casey asked reproachfully.

"Nothing, nothing," April said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "I just thought of something really funny, but it's an inside joke. You wouldn't get it."

"Whatever, Red. Keep your secrets all you want."

"I will, thank you."

* * *

Satou Atsuko sat down amidst the sea of unopened boxes in her living room. She looked up at the beautiful glass display cases that spanned an entire wall of the apartment. It was time to put up her collection.

One by one, she started to remove hundreds of traditional Japanese weapons from their cardboard prisons.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, guys!" April chirped as she walked into the lair.

Four turtles looked up from the television and waved.

"Hi, April!" Donatello said, his voice unusually high-pitched.

Leonardo greeted April with his customary pleasant smile. "How did the tutoring go?" he asked.

"Well, it's kind of hard to teach someone when they aren't interesting in learning," April answered with a shrug.

"Tell me about it," Leonardo said, nodding in agreement.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Leo?" Raphael chipped in.

"Nothing…just that you guys aren't always the most cooperative…"

"Shut up you guys, I can't hear the TV!" Michelanglo snapped. "This is the best part!"

Both Raphael and Leonardo turned back toward the television. Their eyes suddenly glazed over as they became immediately absorbed into the show.

April walked over to where Donnie was sitting. The couch, once plump and plush, was now mostly springs and threadbare fabric. She sank deeply into what was left of the cushion. "You'll think this is funny, Donnie," April said. "I asked Casey what a radian was, and he said it was something you listen to music on."

Donnie shook his head. "Some guys just aren't as smart as others, April," he said with a somewhat superior air.

April suppressed a laugh when she saw that Raphael rolled his eyes. "He was joking," April said. "I thought it was a pretty good joke, personally."

"Oh." Donnie chuckled kind of nervously. "That is funny, actually. Not the most succinct paronomasia ever, but pretty clever."

"Ok, Donnie," Raph snapped, "it's hard to listen to the show when you talk, let alone make up words."

"'Paronomasia' is a word, Raph," Donnie replied. He spread his hands out as he always did when he was offering an explanation. "It's from the Greek _paronomazien _which means to slightly alter…"

Mikey stood up. "Blah, blah, blah," he said, putting his hands on his hips. He crossed his eyes and grinned stupidly. "I'm Donnie. It's important to be accurate. I like big words, blah, blah, blah!"

Leo and Raph started laughing hysterically. For Donnie's sake, April covered her own smile.

Donnie looked like he was about to start having steam rise from the top of his head. "It _is_ important to be accurate!" he yelled shrilly. "Come on, April. Want to see what I've been working on in my lab?"

April couldn't help but notice the covert glances that the other turtles exchanged. They all started laughing even harder. _Nice going, April,_ she thought. _You had to kiss him on the cheek. Now they all think Donnie and I are an item. And I thought high school gossip was bad. What's the big deal? Families kiss each other all the time. I've seen my aunt kiss my dad..._

But instinctively, April knew that kissing Donnie on the cheek meant a lot more to him than it had to her.

"Sure," April said, trying to sound nonchalant. She wasn't a huge fan of the turtles' new show, anyway. And maybe Donnie would have made some advances on the retro-mutagen.

Donnie beamed at her.

As they walked over to the lab, April asked, "So—shorthand version—what is a paronomasia?"

"Oh," Donnie said. "It's a pun."

"I don't get it."

"No, I mean that 'paronomasia' means 'pun.'"

"Wow. You managed to say the same thing with like, ten more letters."

"Actually, it's only eight more letters," Donnie countered.

April laughed. "I think I know how Casey feels now," she said.

Donnie frowned slightly. "Oh?"

"Yeah—like I'm not that smart."

"Oh," Donnie replied, visibly relaxing. "You are smart, April. You're the smartest girl I know."

"Really, Donnie? I'm the only girl you know."

"Not true—I know Karai, too."

April rolled her eyes. "So what have you been working on?"

Immediately, Donnie got that feverish look he always did when talking about his inventions. "It's really awesome," he exclaimed. He went over to a corner and pulled a dust cover off of what appeared to be a jumble of electronics. "I'm trying to build a computer capable of doing advanced molecular analysis. Theoretically, it might be able to describe chemical structures for elements from Dimension X."

April felt a sudden thrill of hope. "You mean—you could use this to find a cure for Dad?"

"Well, theoretically, anyway. It needs a lot of work. I'm still working on trial and error in the meantime, but this should give me something far more—"

"Accurate," April said, with a smile.

Donnie smiled slightly, as if he were unsure if April was joking with him or making fun of him. "It's important," he said, looking at his feet awkwardly.

"Of course it is," April said. She looked at the pile of electronics, once again feeling her spirits rise. "If anyone can find a cure, it's you, Donnie."

Donnie's face flushed. "Well…"

"Speaking of my Dad, I need to go feed him," April sighed. "If I don't before he goes out, he eats all kinds of junk and then throws it up later." While her father was still somewhat beyond reason, the two of them had worked out an understanding. He came to sleep in the apartment during the day, and then went out at night to do…

Well, whatever it is bats do.

April made sure he had plenty of good nutrition before he went out on his nighttime flights, and when he arrived in the morning, she spent some time sitting with him before he fell asleep. Frequently, he would put one of his wing-arms around her and they would just sit together in silence. Those moments gave her hope that her father was still in there somewhere.

"Yeah," Donnie said awkwardly. "How is that going for you?"

"Not great," April said sadly. "I still can't understand why he's lost his human mind. I mean, Splinter kept his, and so did Dogpound and Fishface."

"All I can surmise is that it affects different people differently. I mean, it was the same with Timothy." Donnie sighed and looked over at the frozen mutant. "It's really unpredictable, too. Usually the mutations are anthropomorphic, but I have seen some animals just stay—animalistic."

"Like those weird squirrel things?"

"Don't remind me. Plus, there was also that freakish parasitic wasp. I wish I understood it."

"Yeah," April sighed. "Well, I'll catch you later, Donnie."

"Want me to walk you home?"

"That's okay."

After saying goodbye to the other turtles, April headed out of the sewers. _I wish I had a mother,_ she thought. _Maybe she could help me figure out just what to do about Donnie. I mean, I really do love him as a friend…I don't want to lead him on, though. And I can't tell my aunt about it, that would be weird._

As she passed the apartment where Satou had just moved in, April mentally slapped herself. She was going to ask Master Splinter whether she should be concerned and she had totally forgotten!

_Stupid boys,_ she thought to herself. _I have way more important things to focus on._


	3. Chapter 3

"Father!"

Two little boys screamed as a cascade of blood spattered their faces. Their father collapsed to the ground in a gory mess.

They looked up at her with pleading in their eyes—their sweet, innocent, brown eyes—and screamed for her to help them.

Then—that voice. The voice she dreaded, the voice she hated.

"In your darkest hour, remember that Hamato Yoshi did this to you."

There was a flash of steel. The boys' screaming ceased. They collapsed to the ground in a vermillion spray.

All she knew was screaming and hate –

With a jolt, Atsuko sat upright in bed. She was still screaming. With a smooth, practiced motion, she whipped out two sai from beneath her pillow and brandished them at nothing.

When she realized that all she could see was the dark solemnity of her bedroom, she forced herself to take several deep breaths. She breathed slowly to the rhythm of the phrase, _It was just a dream_.

She hadn't had one of the nightmares for years. Was it the stress of the move? After all, it was her first night in the apartment.

_It was just a dream. It was just a dream. _

She had practiced years of meditation to block the name Hamato Yoshi from her mind. She had purged the syllables from her memory, or so she had thought. She had done all she could to forget the hatred that name inspired in her, and she nearly succeeded.

_It was just a dream. It was just a dream._

She knew that she would never forget that voice that tormented her. Someday, she would hear that voice scream and beg for mercy. It would receive as much mercy as it had given her.

_It was just a dream. It was just a dream._

Deep breaths sponged away some of the panic from her mind. She rose and lit some incense and began to meditate. Slowly, she allowed the words _Hamato Yoshi_ to fade from her consciousness. Through meditation, she tucked them back into the secret place in her heart where she stored her former life. Likewise, she put away the boys, their father, the blood and the gore, locking them up tightly where she could not see them.

The voice, however, she would allow herself to remember. That voice, and nothing else. Not the name. Not the appearance. Just the voice. If she ever heard it in her waking hours, she would put the spire of her sai straight through the throat of the man who possessed it.

By the time that it was 4:30, Atsuko gave up on any thoughts of going back to sleep. She put on her favorite slippers and walked into the kitchen for a glass of orange juice. Suddenly, a loud burst of noise came from outside her window.

Immediately, she ran to the large philodendron plant that hung in the corner of her kitchen and snatched two sai from beneath the cover of its verdant leaves. Sai at the ready, she advanced toward the window. The racket was actually coming from above. Then, however, she realized that the noise was inside the apartment above her.

She relaxed slightly. The tenant upstairs was probably doing something on the fire escape and had made a lot of noise. Except that the tenant was still being very noisy. Rolling her eyes in disgust, Atsuko hoped that this would not be a regular occurrence. She replaced her back-up sai under the philodendron and went back to the refrigerator.

That was when she realized she had no orange juice.

* * *

Slightly after 7:00, Atsuko locked up her apartment and headed down the stairs. As she went, she nervously tugged at her new clothing. It was her first official day at Advancements as an employee—not just a contractor—and she wanted to be sure that she looked perfect.

Her whole morning had been one long sequence of frustrations. She had already forgotten the nightmare but the loud noises from above were aggravating to her. She loved peace and quiet. The apartment was in disarray with boxes everywhere, she did not get her orange juice, she could not find her kettle and so she did not get her cup of morning tea, either. As she was getting ready for work, she could not find her favorite concealer; of course, today was the one day she woke up with a cherry-red pimple on her chin. She hated it when things were not organized. It made her feel like she was out of control.

Walking down the stairs, she regained some of her confidence when she felt the sai that were snugly concealed at her waist. The weapons gave her a sense of power. She had been powerless once; she never would be again.

Outside the building, she glanced at a kid who waited near the entrance with an old-fashioned bicycle. He looked up at her and flashed a wry grin.

"You must be Red's new neighbor," he said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"April," he replied. "The girl who smashed into you yesterday. She's a little violent. It's 'cause she secretly wants to be a hockey player like me."

"Do you live here too?" Atsuko asked.

"Me? Nah. Red told me about it. I'm just here to pick her up for school."

Atsuko chuckled as she surveyed the bicycle. "On your rusty old two-seat bicycle?"

"I call her _The Heartbreaker. _Sweet ride, huh?"

"Sure," Atsuko said. She checked her watch. "It was nice meeting you. Say hello to your friend April for me, Mr…?"

"Casey Jones," the youth said. "And I'll tell her you said 'hey.'"

As Atsuko walked to the subway station, she started to formulate a theory about the noise that had disturbed her. Stupid teenagers engaging in late night rendezvous was nothing new. This Casey character must have snuck in to pay April an early-morning visit or something. She had no trouble believing that he was capable of causing that much noise.

At that, she tried not to think about relationships and raised the cold barrier that would protect her from the rest of the world for the day. If she never let anyone else in, she would never be hurt again.


End file.
